Friday, 27 April 2012

Coffee in Coorg

The Flame Tree or GulMohur.

Coffee Blooms

While for some, Friday the 13th, may seem unlucky, here in Tamil Nadu
it was celebration time. The Tamil New Year was on Friday the 13th,
this April. That meant, we had a long weekend. So we packed up our bags
and headed off to Coorg, the Scotland of India. We found out that the
best way to experience the place would be to stay at a homestay. With
umpteen homestays in Coorg, picking one was really hard. But I
believe we finally chose the best - Spice Garden. It is a 125 year old,
traditional house set in a coffee estate. Our hosts, Naveen and Raina were extremely
warm and charming. While Naveen is a wildlife expert, who educated us
on the flora and fauna, Raina is an excellent cook. Both of them gave us
a taste of the wonderful hospitality that Coorgis are well known for.

A very Coorgi key-holder

Wild Flowers Sprout at Unexpected Spots

Hibiscus Profusion: A Very Common Sight

If
you are a foodie, then Coorg is an amazing place to be. For me, the
breakfasts there, were the most memorable. On day one, we had Paputtu,
which is a soft rice cake with lots of coconut in it. And the next morning
we had Sannaas, which is a kind of idli, only fluffier and tastier.
Sannaas is made of rice, coconut and a little toddy. While my husband
and I rounded off breakfast with wonderful strong Coorg coffee, my son
had fresh, sweet milk from cows that grazed on pastures all day long.
Even the eggs were from hens that roamed all over the place, pecking on
worms and insects. Yet, the milk and eggs didn't have the
designer "organic, free-range" label that we see in cities. All the food
- the vegetables and grain came from within the estate. To urban food
activists, that would mean zero food miles. Here, however, eating local
didn't seem anything out of the ordinary. "Organic", "Free range",
"Local" may not be a part of the regular Coorgi vocabulary. But we realized that they are a way of life here.

This cow has all the grass to herself. City cows would really envy her.

"Free-range, organic, local" hens

Besides
the food, the natural beauty of the place is magical. Just sitting in
the verandah, I could spot so many new species of birds that I'd never
seen before. The biggest surprise for me was the Malabar Whistling
Thrush. I mistook its call for a man's whistle. By the end of my stay, I lost count of all the new birds I'd seen. Coorg is a bird lover's dream.

Swallows on the Lines

Spotted Dove in its Nest in the Verandah

A Delicate Rose: Notice the Leaves have been Chomped on

Some of the Many Varieties of Hibiscus at Spice Garden

The hills, the never ending stretches of coffee plantations, the fragrant air, the
waterfalls, the endless variety of hibsicus flowers, the exotic spices, the vanilla,
the wild roses, the forests, the fruit trees all made Coorg seem like
paradise. Did Coorgis have any problems, I wondered. Of course they have
problems. And they have REAL problems I soon discovered. Traffic jams and crowded buses don't count. Here, it is the
danger of coming face to face with a tiger. The cab driver
who drove us around told us, he had spotted tigers at least six times in
the past year. The old tigers come to steal their cattle. The elephants destroy
their fields. The solar fencing doesn't really deter them. Leopards eat
up their pets. Poisonous Cobras and Vipers bite them in paddy fields.
But as a brave warrior race, the Coorgis seem to take all these dangers in their
stride.

Asafoetida (Hing): The resin is dried in the sun for use.

AllSpice: The all-in-one garam masala spice

A Typical Plantation, with solar fencing to ward off elephants: Here there's Coffee, Areca Nut and Cocoa (right in front)

Before
I end this post, I must apologize to all my regular blog readers. It's
been more than a month and I've not been able to visit any of your
blogs. My own posts are now less frequent. It was only last year, I
discovered the joys of blogging. And I hoped it would go on forever. But
with my long hours at work, my blog time is severely restricted. I
don't mean to quit blogdom altogether, but I will be here less often. I
hope my blog can make up for the lack in quantity with quality. Do keep
visiting.

Giant Jackfruit Tree: Elephants love the fruit.

Singapore Cherries: Attracts birds and little boys. Even we couldn't resist eating all the ripe ones.

19 comments:

Sounds like an amazing place to be - everything seems to be edible! Must be such a lovely contrast to the frenetic pace of the city.How fortunate you were to be able to see wild elephants. No tigers I suppose? (Or maybe you were just too surprised to be able to take photos of them??) I'm not familiar with what you call solar fencing. Is that an electric fence powered by solar panels?

No, I didn't see any tigers!!! But I saw many pictures of carcasses and bones of several animals devoured by tigers that had visited the estate. That was scary enough. I did see a really long snake, a bison and quite a few wild elephants.

By solar fencing, I actually meant solar powered electric fencing. These fences only give a mild shock to the animals.

What a beautiful holiday destination! The flame trees in our parts and in northern India aren't in full bloom till now. Even the coffee blooms are lovely! This is one part of the country I haven't been to. Nice flower collage and I love those wide open spaces!

Great to see you made a visit to Coorg. We go there as often as three times a year. It is a wonderful place to be. The coffee flowers are always a pleasure to pass by; they look like tufts of pure white cotton.

Thanks for the photo-tour through Coorg; it was lovely to read this post. I have been there too and stayed in wonderful resort called Orange County. I hope your tuberoses are still blooming. Mine haven't yet started!

Hello Anita! How have you been? It's been ages since we last connected. You must be busy with work, I think. I stopped by to tell you about a new video where my son plays the drums.It's an Assamese rock video. I'd be delighted if you check it out.:)It's on my blogger blog....nature rambles.